The Little Foxes

The final act of The Little Foxes opens with Alexandra and Birdie playing a duet at the piano, while Horace and Addie listen. When the song is over, Addie hands each of them cake and elderberry wine. Alexandra takes a bit and says, “Good cakes, Addie. It’s nice here. Just us. Be nice if it could always be this way” (56). Birdie agrees, then Addie reminds them they don’t have long. Soon, the cotton mill will be going up, and everything will change.

All the while, Birdie has been drinking multiple glasses of wine. She reminisces on playing music with Horace the first night she met him, and says that Oscar didn’t want her playing the piano after that. She tells Alexandra that Horace has always been kind to her, and stood up to Oscar for her.

Cal, one of the workers, arrives. Horace needs him to run an errand for him. He tells Cal to go to the bank and slip in the back, where he’ll find the men still doing the end-of-day business. He says Cal is to thank Mr. Mander for sending the lockbox over a few days ago. Cal should say that Horace wants to see him and “Mr. Sol Fowler, your attorney-at-law” (57) for supper that night. Horace adds that it should be in front of everybody, so all can hear him.

Birdie continues to drink wine, even when Addie gently discourages her from having more. She begins to talk about her time at Lionnet, and the first day she ever saw Oscar. He walked by their house as they were having a large, grand party, and tipped his hat at her from outside the window. Birdie’s brother commented that they should have invited the Hubbards to the party. She recalls:

He said Mama didn’t like them because they kept a store, and he said that was old-fashioned of her […] and then I saw Mama angry for the first time in my life. She said that wasn’t the reason […] She said she was old-fashioned enough not to like people who killed animals they couldn’t use, and who made their money charging interest to poor, ignorant [Black people] and cheating them on what they bought (59).

Addie hears this and mentions that a lot of people have made their fortune by cheating Black people out of their money. She says there are the people who commit these evils, and then there are those who stand by and watch, which is also wrong.

Alexandra asks Birdie why she married Oscar. She tells her niece that she thought she liked him, but she soon realized that he only married her for her money. She feels like a fool, since everyone seemed to realize it except for her. Since sealing his fortune by marrying her, Oscar hasn’t been kind to Birdie once. Alexandra, frightened by the story, asks Horace if they can leave this place once he is better, and he promises he will try.

Addie tells Birdie that if she keeps going on about her marriage like this, she’s likely to get one of her headaches. Birdie turns on her, telling them all that she’s never had headaches. She battles an addiction to alcohol, and Oscar merely tells people she has a headache when, actually, she is drunk. She looks at her niece and tells her not to love her. She tells Alexandra that she is bound to end up like Birdie. She laughs, saying, “And you’ll trail after them, just like me, hoping they won’t be so mean that day or say something to make you feel bad” (60). Alexandra calmly grabs her aunt’s hand and walks her home.

When they have left, Horace tells Addie that he is afraid of running out of time to save Alexandra from the same fate as Birdie. He makes Addie promise him that she’ll take care of Alexandra and won’t let her marry Leo. He tells her he is changing the will, and he wants Addie to have some money afterward as well. He knows that even if he leaves it to her in his will, she will have a hard time getting it as a Black woman, so he’s left her an envelope stuffed with cash.

Cal returns from his errand and tells Horace that he did as he was told. When he announced it to the room, Leo stood up and seemed panicked, asking which box Cal meant. Horace laughs, knowing his plan has worked. When they hear Regina approaching, Addie starts to wheel Horace away, but he tells her he is to stay put. When Addie protests, saying he should rest, he insists he will stay to talk to his wife. Addie and Cal exit, and Regina enters.

She tells Horace, per their agreement, he is not supposed to be in this part of the house. Horace promises it won’t happen again, but says he wants to talk to her before he leaves again. He says, “I want to tell you that, after all, we have invested our money in Hubbard, Sons and Marshall, Cotton Manufacturer” (63). Regina is confused, so Horace explains that he discovered what Ben, Oscar, and Leo did with the bonds three days ago, when he asked to look in the lockbox.

Instead of holding it over their heads, Horace has decided to go along with it, pretending that he is the one who loaned the bonds to Leo. He tells her he is having his will re-written so that the bond loan will be repaid to Regina, and the rest of his money will go to Alexandra. He says that he will not say anything about the scheme as long as he lives. He knows that the brothers and nephew will be over any minute, since he made sure that Leo got word that Horace knows what happened.

Regina and Horace discuss their feelings for one another. Regina is convinced Horace must hate her, but he assures her that isn’t the case. She shrugs it off, saying that she’s always held contempt for him. Horace is deeply hurt, since he married Regina for love, but Regina saw him as someone she could control into making more money for them. She was especially driven to marry him after their father died and left money to Oscar and Ben, but nothing to her. When she realized Horace would never be as ambitious as her brothers, she began to loathe him. She made up excuses to the doctor so that she wouldn’t have to sleep with him any longer. She says she is lucky that he got heart trouble so early on, for she wouldn’t have to put up with him too long.

Just then, Horace begins to grasp at his throat and has trouble breathing. He is clearly having a heart attack and tries to get Regina to help him get his medicine. Instead, Regina ignores her husband, letting him writhe and gasp. When he sees she has no intention of getting up, Horace, with great effort, stands from his wheelchair and walks toward the staircase. Regina doesn’t turn back once as Horace struggles up the stairs, finally collapsing on the landing. When she hears him go quiet, she waits a moment before calling out for help.

Regina orders a shocked Cal to take Horace into the room upstairs. Alexandra comes in from the rain and notices the empty wheelchair. She runs into Addie, who is on her way out to fetch the doctor. Alexandra races up the stairs as Addie exits. Soon, Leo, Oscar, and Ben all arrive to find the house in distress from Horace’s attack. While everyone else is distracted, Leo pulls his father and uncle aside and tells them that Horace knows about the bonds, and is bringing a lawyer to the house tonight.

They are still debating what to do and wondering if Regina knows, when she comes down the stairs. They ask how Horace is, and she tells them he isn’t conscious. She tells them that Horace told her about the bonds, and the men start to worry. She tells them of Horace’s plan to pretend he loaned Leo the bonds, and cut her out of his inheritance almost entirely.

When Ben chastises her, saying she should smile more, Regina replies, “I’m smiling, Ben, I’m smiling because you are quite safe while Horace lives. But I don’t think Horace will live […] And if he doesn’t live I shall want seventy-five percent in exchange for the bonds” (73). Ben coolly claps back at her, calling her on her greed, but Regina goes further. She tells her brothers and nephew that if they don’t comply, she’ll have the three of them arrested.

Before she can explain further, Alexandra comes down the stairs. Horace has died. Oscar and Ben make half-hearted condolences to her, and Alexandra bursts into laughter. She asks all of them if they ever actually loved her father, and if they care that he died. Then she turns to her mother, suspicious, and asks why Horace was on the staircase. Regina tries to make Alexandra leave, dismissing her question, but she won’t budge.

Regina returns to the conversation with her brothers, reminding them that she will have them arrested if they don’t comply. She tells them the court won’t be able to refuse a beautiful woman who was swindled by her greedy brothers. Even if they don’t end up in jail, their reputation will be ruined as the story gets out. Regina even promises to reveal everything to Marshall herself, who will want to withdraw from the deal so as to avoid scandal. The men concede, realizing their hands are tied. Ben leaves his sister, almost admiring her for being as greedy as he and Oscar are.

After they have gone, Regina turns to Alexandra and asks what she wanted to talk about. Alexandra tells her, “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to talk. There’s nothing to talk about now” (77). Regina shrugs it off as odd behavior, and tells her daughter that the two of them will be moving to Chicago to have the lavish lifestyle she has always wanted. Regina wants to take Alexandra away from Birdie, as she thinks Birdie has been a bad influence on Alexandra.

Alexandra, in one final stand, refuses to go with her mother. Regina says she should sleep on it and see if she changes her mind, but Alexandra has already decided. She won’t be staying with Regina; it’s what her father would have wanted. Regina slowly climbs the stairs as she realizes the wedge her actions have driven between her and Alexandra. Suddenly, Regina loses her confidence and asks Alexandra to stay, and is again rejected. The final image of the play is Regina slowly receding into the darkness on the landing, alone, as Alexandra and Addie exit together.